1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an antenna coupler, more particularly to an antenna coupler having a pick-up surface to facilitate surface mounting.
2. Description of the Related Art
Antenna couplers are used for fastening an antenna on a circuit board. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional antenna coupler 91 includes a base part 93 and a pair of clamping arms 94. The base part 93 has a pair of edge portions opposite to each other in a first direction. The clamping arms 94 extend respectively from the edge portions of the base part 93 in a second direction transverse to the first direction, confine a clamping space 90 therebetween, and are adapted to clamp a rod section 95 of an antenna. The clamping arms 94 have adjacent first edges that extend in the second direction and that have a pair of first guide flanges 96 formed respectively thereat, and adjacent second edges that are opposite to the first edges and that have a pair of second guide flanges 98 formed respectively thereat. The first and second guide flanges 96, 98 confine respective first and second converging entrances for guiding insertion of the rod section 95 of the antenna into the clamping space 90. The base part 93 and the clamping arms 94 are formed integrally from a metal plate that is folded at junctions of the base part 93 and the clamping arms 94.
There are several drawbacks associated with the conventional antenna coupler 91. First, the conventional antenna coupler 91 does not have a surface suitable for application of a suction force to facilitate surface mounting of the same on a circuit board 92. Second, when several conventional antenna couplers 91 are collected in one place, the conventional antenna couplers 91 are likely to entangle with each other. As such, additional time is needed for disentangling before the conventional antenna coupler 91 can be mounted on the circuit board 92. Third, the conventional antenna coupler 91 is mounted on the circuit board 92 by soldering directly a bottom surface of the base part 93 on the circuit board 92. As such, solder material may spread over the junctions of the base part 93 and the clamping arms 94, which reduces resiliency of the clamping arms 94 that can inhibit effective clamping of the antenna. Fourth, after the conventional antenna coupler 91 is mounted on the circuit board 92, cables (not shown) of test equipment (not shown) can be easily caught between the clamping arms 94. As such, the clamping arms 94 may be deformed and unable to clamp properly the rod section 95 of the antenna. Finally, when the antenna is inserted in an inappropriate manner such that the rod section 95 of the antenna applies a pushing force on the clamping arms 94, one of the clamping arms 94 may be pushed beyond a certain distance away from the other clamping arm 94 and may not be able to spring back to its original position. As such, the clamping arms 94 of the conventional antenna coupler 91 are easily damaged.